Mwave: Group Buys Are A Big Deal

Interview: As tech e-tailer Mwave rides group deals, CN catches up with its marketing boss to talk group buying and whats hot.

Although sales on group buys are, at present, modest, "demand will gradually grow", says MWave Marketing boss, Andrew Wang, who predicts its new Group Deals will be big news for the tech e-tailer, one of the biggest in the country.

Since MWave launched Group Deals last week, consumer interest seems to have picked up, with several of its deal products now sold out. (A minimum number of customers must commit for the deal to go ahead).

"Its just started" says Wang, admitting it will "take time for consumers to get used to it".

The core aim of Group Deals is to drive traffic to the site, which has over 300,000 visitors per month, on average, and will be the main focus on MWave's homepage.

But "it also gives an added benefit to customers" offering bargains on anything from a D-Link Wireless Cloud Router for $145 to a Samsung 32GB MicroSD card, the latter which was a popular buy, Wang told CN.

The beauty of Group Deal products is they vary and "may not be for you today, but may be tomorrow", he says.

The popular tech e-tailer already runs a 'Bargain 24' hour offers, which has been successful in driving sales.

There are no criteria for the deals - it could be anything from storage product, to wireless digital IP cameras. The tech site's main focus is on computers, accessories while mobiles and cameras are a "sideline". Its online store's biggest sellers are storage products, external hard drives, flash drives and memory cards. "People are always running out of space".

The deals will be "the best price in the market" and have a shipping discount, as overly pricey "shipping can often kill a deal", Wang says.

All deliveries are dispatched from a Sydney based distribution centre in Lidcombe. Same day delivery is an important "differentiator" for the tech site as is the pick-up option, although mainly popular among Sydney customers, who can collect from its Lidcombe base.

The response from vendors to Group Deal has been good so far, says Wang. Vendors can "promote new products, pre-order specials or clear excess stock" and hit their target audience - the tech-only consumer, he says.

Mwave's point of difference is there is no other website focused on tech products only - its typical customer is everyone from PC enthusiasts and Do-it yourself techies, to the ordinary Joe Bloggs consumer.

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The e-tailer is targeting customers from its existing database and word-of-mouth is also as important in a group buying environment.

MWave has "no plans" to move into physical retail and wishes to stay a pure online player only, says Wang.

What's Hot

In terms of what's hot for the site at the moment, tablets are eating into lower end desktop sales, but high end gaming PC's are "still strong".

Laptops and monitors are also big sellers on MWave." People are now starting to buy multiple monitors - two or three" instead of just a bog standard one.

Christmas is always a huge opportunity as demand for gadgets spike. When asked what will be hot this Christmas 2013, the marketing boss says there will be several new products released in the lead up to Christmas although refused to elaborate further.